The Great Computer Debate

Today in class we were talking about Debord's concept of the spectacle and the gradual downgrading process from being, to having, to appearing. As a class, we discussed the idea that the transition into a modern capitalist economy, as opposed to a mass market, has changed our society by standardizing and popularizing the monologue (visual statements and imagery about oneself projected onto the world) as opposed to encouraging a dialogue between people. I think this is very true in that nowadays, people (including myself) tend to make snap judgements about others just by looking at their clothes, iPod playlists, DVD collections, etc. It's very easy to get a superficial idea of what someone is like just by going online and looking them up on Facebook, as was mentioned today in class.

One topic that came to mind while we were discussing this was the question of Mac computers and PCs. When I was a freshman in high school, Macs were considered frustrating, and hard to use. And then suddenly, around junior year, everyone started getting Macs. Macs were cool, and by comparison PCs were frumpy, archaic, impractical, and definitely not as aesthetically pleasing as Macs. I can't say what exactly prompted this sudden change in computer fashions, but since then Macs have become the computer of choice among most of my peers. As the lone PC user in my circle of friends, I'm the only one who can't use features like Mac Photobooth and iChat (a form of video chatting on Macs). Although video chatting would certainly be a lot of fun, having a hip computer isn't a big deal to me. And: after putting my Inspiron through all kinds of hell (spilling tea and dropping bits of shredded wheat onto the keyboard, unintentionally destroying its battery life, dropping it), watching it come back to life every time, and having to work with Macs that froze up and died all the time last year at an internship, I don't buy into the hype that Macs are technically superior to PCs.

However, there is definitely a stereotype among computer users (at least among those who are geeky enough, ahem, conscientious enough to care) that Mac users are cooler, more creative, more culturally savvy, and more knowledgable than PC users, which is a mindset that Apple certainly capitalizes on at every opportunity. The go-to example for this would be Apple's Mac vs. PC commercials, in which a "hip" young actor portrays a Mac and an overweight, nerdy-looking middle-aged actor portrays a PC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci2D1ig4df4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EbCyibkNB0&feature=related

But recently, I was watching TV when a commercial that looked an awful lot like the Mac setup (white room, PC guy introducing himself as a PC) came on. However, it was a PC commercial designed to reclaim PCs, featuring people like Vera Wang, Kevin Spacey, and Eva Longoria - people who eschew the nerdy PC sterotype.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZdkHylJ3w

However, even though I am a PC user myself, I don't find the message effective or intriguing at all. It doesn't seem to be a commercial so much as a self-righteous, slightly annoying rebuttal to Apple. Instead of explaining how PCs might be superior to Macs, the commercial only shows the viewer a bunch of famous people in an attempt to raise the self-esteem of a hypothetical audience of disgruntled, sad sack PC users. In addition, although the commercial does attempt to point out how the PC had universal appeal by showing different PC users from other countries, it is not successful in a marketing sense because it fails to communicate a sense of lifestyle or brand. Part of Mac's success comes from the fact that they market to a specific clientele - usually young people who can take advantage of features like Photobooth, iChat, and iTunes, or people working in creative professional fields like film, photography, or music.

In class today, we also discussed the concept of detournement, in which traditional expectations and/or messages are subverted through recycling old, familiar elements. Although there are countless Mac vs. PC parodies available on the Internet, I thought this one, which uses animation from South Park (speaking of subversion) was the funniest and most apt - enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_kGL3M5Cg